I love running with music and I do like my upbeat dance music or as my Dad used to call it ‘beep bop di beep bop’. I love changing the music I listen to and here are ten of my favourite running tracks…at the moment anyway.

Rock, Dust Light Star – Jamiroquai

Yeke Yeke – More Kante. An awesome dance hit from 1993 which takes me back to my youth.

On running and finishing races one of the most common sights I see is blood on men’s t shirts. I see it every race without fail. So what is this, why does it happen and how can we prevent it?

Being a lady, and not facing this issue, I have consulted with many of my male running companions on this subject to really understand what happens to these guys. So blood on t shirts is widely described as runners nipples. Effectively during a run a t-shirt or singlet can chafe and overtime cause bleeding. Ladies are normally wearing close fitting bras so this isn’t usually an issue. I have seen cases where there is a huge amount of blood so it’s a real problem and the male runners I have spoken to try lots of things to prevent it.

No fixes are full proof and these all meet with mixed results but here are a few solutions:

Vaseline – that old favourite! This is used generally for chafing and is a great barrier. However it might not last a marathon!

Plasters – guys use plasters to prevent the problem but they can slide off or stick firm so you get a wax into the bargain, when you rip them off.

Body glide – triathletes use this a lot to help get wetsuits on and off; another great barrier/ anti chafing gel

Nipple daisies – these are awesome and designed for ladies but cover your nipples perfectly. You can buy online from ebay which also saves a bit of embarrassment.

Take your top off – many fellas run without tops. Great if you live up north (Australia) but in Tassie in June not such a good option. However if you have a physique similar to Djokovic I actively encourage this anytime of the year

Wear skins – some men I have spoken to have managed to get round the problem by wearing a really close fitting top.

Does anyone have any other great suggestions? If so please do get them down here.

I am a big music lover when running and so its crucial that I can hear my tunes clearly and that the headphones aren’t fiddly. So what headphones do I like and what beats the Run Rabbit durability test. Here are three I’ve tried out recently.

Sennheiser PMX80

These have been my favourite headphones for about 5 years until they stopped making them. Bad Sennheiser. What is great about them? They are lightweight, snug in the ear, don’t move and therefore you can do a marathon in them (yes I’ve done 5 with them) and they have decent sound quality. Also the lead doesn’t really bother me as I put it down my running top. What’s not so great? They aren’t that waterproof and therefore you go through them. I probably go through three pairs a year. The big problem is that Sennheiser have stopped making them so they are really hard to get hold of. Sennheiser have brought out another model which is the PMX 680. These are similar but they come with a voice control button on the cable which is heavy, relative to the cable, and therefore annoying whilst running. So now I don’t shop Sennheiser. When available these cost approximately $90.

Panasonic clip on ear headphones

I reckon I have an odd right ear as these things just won’t stay in when running. I ended up taking them out because they were so annoying. They are light and the sound is ok but if they are fiddly you aren’t going to use them so it’s a big no no for me. Having said that I do know people who use the clip on ear headphones and cope pretty well. If they do stay on your ear they are probably pretty good and relatively cheap at around $20-$30.

Philips neckband sports headphones

I bought these after searching endlessly for a Sennheiser alternative. So far, so good. Good points – they stay in my ears, give me decent sound, are comfortable, haven’t broken yet and are still being made. The only bad point I can think of is that they have a bud which sits in the ear. When you sweat a vacuum is created in your ear, due to the bud, which feels a little disconcerting. But overall the best option for me on the market right now. These are priced pretty well too. You can pick them up on ebay for about $35 but watch the shipping costs. We still struggle with few aussie retailers selling them.

So my verdict is a neckband and Philips currently gets my vote. Any others than anyone recommends?

One of the most important things us ladies need to worry about when running is the ‘bounce’ factor. There’s nothing worse than running with an ill-fitting, or poorly supporting, sports bra. For the last few years I’ve stuck with the same brand, Sport Jock, but recently Shock Absorber have been promoting a new super duper sports bra that reduces bounce by 78%, so I decided to give it a road test!

Sport Jock vs Shock Absorber

Nature, or rather genetics, has been generous to me in the bounce department so I need a good sports bra. There’s no way I’m running 42km unsupported. After trying lots of different sports bras I landed on Sport Jock. Sport Jock is an American brand and is awesome. The bra is effectively a cropped top and has many redeeming features. I find it to be fantastically comfortable, really supportive and it doesn’t chafe. You could easily wear it on its own if you chose to (or have abs like Madonna) but I normally wear it with a singlet or t-shirt. The other great feature is that it comes in many colours.

So the Shock Absorber bra had a tough road ahead. The bra is called the Ultimate Run bra so we’ll see how it goes.

Fit and Comfort

It is a bit more fiddly than the Sports Jock in that you have bits to adjust and a bra fastening at the back. However the fit is good and it’s pretty comfortable. My heart rate monitor did sit a little lower with this bra but it still worked perfectly.

Design

The Shock Absorber bra comes in three colours: black, white and blue so not a huge variety but the blue is quite fun and different. You could wear this just on its own as a cropped top.

Chafing

No chafing at all and this has been road tested on a 20km run. The Sports Jock is similar with no chafing problems.

Bounce factor

The Shock Absorber bra claims to reduce bounce by 78% and I certainly didn’t bounce a lot but 78%? Perhaps yes but I’ve no idea how you measure that! I’m sure there would be a few volunteers out there who would have been keen to help Shock Absorber measure it. The Sport Jock is also very good at the bounce factor and I didn’t notice a massive difference between the two although the Shock Absorber perhaps did just edge it.

Washability and wearability

This is an important factor for runners as you wash your kit a lot. If it doesn’t wash well, or requires special washing instructions, you won’t buy another. I have washed this bra a few times and tumble dried it and it comes out fine. The Sport Jock washed incredibly well and I have had a couple for years that I still wear.

Price

Both similarly priced the Shock Absorber bra is $42 on Wiggle compared to the Sport Jock priced between $36 and $39. Pretty good value in my opinion.

So my verdict…it’s a great bra and I’ll wear this running so give it a go. As for whether it’s the Ultimate running bra it’s definitely up there but see how you go ladies.

A few weeks ago a jogger tragically died in Victoria, when he was clipped by a train whilst out running. It was drizzly and dark and the man may have thought he had more space than he actually did but he was also wearing headphones. So that raises the question: music or no music?

Many races and marathons now actually ban, or certainly discourage, the use of music during a race. Their reasons are that it annoys other runners and also that you aren’t quite as aware of your surroundings as if you were music free.

I will often run with music and I find it keeps me motivated during long runs. I have used music whilst running for years and have suffered through the times of mini discs and the very large iPods that would get stuck because they were being jolted too much – than goodness for the shuffle! But I am generally very aware that my hearing is limited when music is playing; I don’t have it so loud that I can’t hear anything else, especially traffic. Even on walking paths you can get bikes which you really can’t hear very well so keep your wits about you.

I will regularly run without music though. I’ll often do this on shorter runs or during interval training. The great thing about it is that you can tune into yourself, listen to your breathing and focus on your steps. I find that you will often pay a bit more attention to your technique and style. Also take advantage of parks, the beach and the bush and listen to all that’s around you.

Pros

Keeps you motivated, especially during long runs

You can tune in to your own world

Develop a playlist to suit your training

Cons

You tune out of what’s around you – can be unsafe with traffic etc.

If you train with it you’ll often need to race with it

You can go through headphones; they break quickly in my experience

You can forget to focus on your technique and breathing

I do think music is a personal thing and on a 1, 2 or 3 hour run often you’ll need a bit of a motivator. But with or without it, be mindful of where you are running, who else is around and the environment you’re in. Try it with and without and see how you go.

One of my outright favourite running websites is Athlinks. Athlinks is an awesome website which holds all of your race results in one place and it’s a great site to get your geek on.

Athlinks pulls race results from high and low profile races all over the world so you can access them in one place. I have race results from ten years ago stored in the database! It doesn’t seem to capture all races as my London marathon races seem to have been missed; however you can add ‘unofficial’ race results yourself. You can see gender, age and overall position per race along with pace and any other data they can pull. Pace is probably the most interesting one to look at.

I tend to run the same route most of the time and extend it/ shorten it as necessary. However sometimes I just want a change or I’m travelling and want to find a good running route. So map my run is a great website and app that helps with this. The main things I use it for are planning routes and finding new routes in an area I’m not familiar with however there are loads of things you can use it for as below:

Running is not a gear/ kit intense sport, however you do need a few bits and pieces. Here is a quick list of 5 items I think you need to start running….

1) Runners/ trainers/ sneakers – probably the most important item in your running wardrobe. Without them you may as well go all Zola Budd; with poor fitting ones you’ll get blisters, shin splints and sore feet. All in all it’s enough to put you off running and your budding running career will be short-lived. Get them properly fitted at a specialised running store and ideally get gait analysis done. One tip is to take an old pair of running shoes with you so they can get a look at how your foot pronates.

2) Running shorts/ leggings – for me these are very important. Pick too short a short and you have Rafael Nadal’s problem; wear tracksuit bottoms and they can be too heavy. Make sure whatever you pick is comfortable and relatively lightweight. Key things to watch out for is chafing (shorty shorts can cause this), length (think about the cold winters and hot summers), pockets (really useful for keys), material – lycra I find fits well and washes well. My favourite brands are Nike, 2XU and Skins. I’ll talk about compression in another blog.